History Main / ManInTheIronMask

* In one episode of Smallville, when Lex is [[LiteralSplitPersonality split into his good side and his evil side]] after accidentally creating Black Kryptonite, his evil side locks up his good side, complete with the requisite iron mask and [[{{Lampshade}} Lampshading]] the situation.

* King Jakoven in Patricia Briggs' Hurog series built the Assylum specifically to lock up his brother Kellen. Justified in that he was warned in a prophecy that it would be a very bad idea to kill his brother. While it's common knowledge that he's in there, most of the common people seem to have bought the idea that he's genuinely nuts, rather than unjustly imprisoned.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''The Man In the Iron Mask'' has had several adaptions. Richard Chamberlain starred in one where the older twin son had been spirited away, for leverage to make the younger one a puppet king, so the younger one was not, in fact, responsible. But he found out and ordered his brother imprisoned with the mask so no one could use it. The older one was rescued and managed to confuse the younger's flunkies so that his brother was sent off for the same fate.\\
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The younger brother was afraid that their being twins meant there might be some connection, so that killing him would be dangerous.
* The most recent film [[TheManInTheIronMask (1998)]] starring LeonardoDiCaprio as the king (Louis) and twin brother (Phillipe). [[spoiler:The movie has the switch between the EvilTwin and GoodTwin succeed.]] Was notable for massive AdaptationDistillation: Louis being more evil than depicted in the novel, and [[spoiler:the twist that D'Artangan was the real father to the twins]]. This was also [=DiCaprio=]'s follow-up movie to ''Titanic'' during which legions of fangirls were ''still'' swarming to the earlier film in theaters: ''Iron Mask'' took second place.

* King Jakoven in Patricia Briggs' Hurog series built the Assylum specifically to lock up his brother Kellen. Justified in that he was warned in a prophecy that it would be a very bad idea to kill his brother.

So you've [[TheEvilPrince usurped your half-brother's throne]] and [[TheUsurper your control is complete]]. Seems like the thing to do is to kill your noble half-brother and bury the corpse in a pauper's grave. But you're a [[AffablyEvil nice]] EvilOverlord, so you opt simply to throw your brother, the one person who could cast your authority to rule your entire empire into doubt, into prison (or a [[LockedAwayInAMonastery monastery]]) and forget to tell anyone that he's your brother.

* One of the {{Xanth}} novels has the good King Omen imprisoned in secret by his usurper brother Oary. When foiled, Oary admits that he would have been more successful if he'd killed Omen, but [[AntiVillain he's not quite evil enough to kill his own brother.]]

Of course, the hero discovers that the noble half-brother is still alive and frees him, [[ReturnOfTheKing restoring order to the kingdom]], making the reader ask "WhyDontYouJustShootHim" before the hero shows up?

So you've [[TheEvilPrince usurped your half-brother's throne]] and [[TheUsurper your control is complete]]. Seems like the thing to do is to kill your noble half-brother and bury the corpse in a pauper's grave. But you're a [[AffablyEvil nice]] EvilOverlord, so you opt simply to throw your brother, the one person who could cast your authority to rule your entire empire into doubt, into prison and forget to tell anyone that he's your brother.

Of course, the hero discovers that the noble half-brother is still alive and frees him, [[ReturnOfTheKing restoring order to the kingdom]], making the reader ask WhyDontYouJustShootHim before the hero shows up?

So you've [[TheEvilPrince usurped your half-brother's throne]] and [[FakeKing your control is complete]]. Seems like the thing to do is to kill your noble half-brother and bury the corpse in a pauper's grave. But you're a [[AffablyEvil nice]] EvilOverlord, so you opt simply to throw your brother, the one person who could cast your authority to rule your entire empire into doubt, into prison and forget to tell anyone that he's your brother.

* In the manga ''{{Berserk}}'', the old king of Midland imprisonned the ambitious Griffith to get him tortured during one full year, until his old comrades from the band of the Hawk saved him.

The essential criteria for this trope:

* Appears in ''{{Lunar}}: The Silver Star''. [[spoiler: Lemia had her memory wiped by an enchanted mask and is locked away in the dungeon while the usurper takes her place. The cast doesn't realise who she is upon finding her, and free her mainly out of pity and disgust at her... less-than-pleasant condition.]]

* Parodied in the {{Discworld}} novel ''The Truth'', which involves a plot to dethrone Lord Vetinari by framing him for a crime using a man who looks just like him. After the plot is thwarted, William De Worde asks Lord Vetinari if he's giving his look-alike this treatment. Vetinari responds that the man is, in fact, alive and now employed by the Guild of Actors, appearing as Vetinari in stage productions and children's parties. William de Worde theorizes that he might occasionally be used as a stand-in for Lord Vetinari when the real one is unavailable for some boring task or posing for an oil painting, but Vetinari just answers that with a characteristic blank look.

* The most recent film (1998) starring LeonardoDiCaprio as the king (Louis) and twin brother (Phillipe). [[spoiler:The movie has the switch between the EvilTwin and GoodTwin succeed.]] Was notable for massive AdaptationDistillation: Louis being more evil than depicted in the novel, and [[spoiler:the twist that D'Artangan was the real father to the twins]]. This was also [=DiCaprio=]'s follow-up movie to ''Titanic'' during which legions of fangirls were ''still'' swarming to the earlier film in theaters: ''Iron Mask'' took second place.

* The most recent film (1998) starring LeonardoDiCaprio as the king (Louis) and twin brother (Phillipe). [[spoiler:The movie has the switch between the EvilTwin and GoodTwin succeed.]] Was notable for massive AdaptationDistillation: Louis being more evil than depicted in the novel, and [[spoiler:the twist that D'Artangan was the real father to the twins]]. This was also DiCaprio's follow-up movie to ''Titanic'' during which legions of fangirls were ''still'' swarming to the earlier film in theaters: ''Iron Mask'' took second place.

* The leggend of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_the_Iron_Mask Man in the Iron Mask]] was based on actual records found from Bastille. There are a lot of theories reagarding the Man's identity, but very little information remains of the real events.

* Aversion: The Ottoman Sultan Mehmet the II (the guy who took Constantinopole) realised that having siblings around to challenge the throne was not a good thing for the ruler and the kingdom so he not only recommended fratricide, he legalised it (on a royal level) and put together a framework to deal with troublesome siblings. It was only removed during the later periods of the empire and overall, it is generally considered a success.

* Parodied in the {{Discworld}} novel ''The Truth'', which involves a plot to dethrone Lord Vetinari by framing him for a crime using a man who looks just like him. After the plot is thwarted, William De Worde asks Lord Vetinari if he's giving his look-alike this treatment. Vetinari responds that the man is, in fact, alive and now employed by the Guild of Actors, playing Vetinari in stage productions and children's parties. William de Worde theorizes that he might occasionally be used as a stand-in for Lord Vetinari when the real one is unavailable for some boring task or posing for an oil painting, but Vetinari just answers that with a characteristic blank look.

* Parodied in the {{Discworld}} novel ''The Truth'', which involves a plot to dethrone Lord Vetinari by framing him for a crime using a man who looks just like him. After the plot is thwarted, William De Worde asks Lord Vetinari if he's giving his look-alike this treatment. Vetinari responds that the man is, in fact, alive and now employed being a stand-in for Lord Vetinari when the real one is unavailable.

* ''Eye Of The Dragon'' by Stephen King. In this case it's the EvilChancellor who engineers the king's imprisonment, and when he's freed the sitting king (his younger brother) is all too willing to give him back the throne.

* ''Eye Of The Dragon'' by Stephen King. In this case it's the EvilVizier who engineers the king's imprisonment, and when he's freed the sitting king (his younger brother) is all too willing to give him back the throne.

* ''Eye Of The Dragon'' by Stephen King.

* In some versions of ''RobinHood'', John claims to be raising money to free King Richard returning from the crusades, but in reality is using the money to stay in power.

*Subverted in ''{{Hamlet}}'', in which Claudius ''did'' kill his brother, but did not bet on his ghost rising up and telling his son about it.